Reckless Abandon (Black Horsemen MC Book 3)

by Sophia Hampton

  Another large pounding sound came from the main hall as a cry of shouts came bursting through the silence. They were cheering something, and Gloria could only guess what. She said a silent prayer that it was not Vinny. But as the men were distracted, crowding around whatever had come to their attention, Gloria took it as her cue to make her dash.

  She ran through the hallway to the room with the locked door. Her fingers fumbled with the lock until she was able to stop shaking. She could not steady herself before she felt her dress sleeve be yanked upwards by a great force. Gloria quickly turned, her back leaning against the door she had attempted to open.

  A large man of over six feet towered above her. He wasted no time, delivering a huge slap to Gloria’s face that knocked her hard to the ground. She struggled to get up before the same man delivered a surprise kick to her stomach. She collapsed on to the ground. He pulled her up by her hair and walked her into the main hall.

  Gloria’s vision failed as the man’s forceful hit brought lingering damage to her eyesight. She could hear Quimby laugh heartily as he took notice, “So we found ourselves two jailbirds. Leave this one in here. Put that one with Ben. We’ll take her last now.”

  Two. Two? Had they caught Vinny? Gloria had not been sure; she could still not make out the faces of the men. She let out a scream as she kicked up against the mountain of a man that carried her over his shoulder back to the room she had attempted to unlock.

  Her taker opened the door and tossed her inside. She fell back down to the ground in a pile of bones and skin that wanted nothing more than to just give up. Her wrists shook as she tried to prop herself up to sitting.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” A large man with waspy brown hair growled at her as he sat confined to a metal chair. His arms and legs were bound with wire and his face was bloodied and bruised. Small burn marks made by cigarette tips were seared into his white t-shirt and jeans.

  “Are you, uh, Benni?” Gloria shook her head, trying to focus more closely upon his face. She had never met the leader of the Black Horsemen, but Vinny had described him to her in the past. But still, she was not sure what she wanted his answer to be. Benni had sworn to kill her after all. However, he was also most likely a hostage in this situation.

  “Yeah. And you’re Gloria. Where’s Vinny? Is he in on this, too?”

  “In on what?” Gloria asked.

  “Those dumb fucks are tryin’ to stage a coup. They’re mad I didn’t kill your boyfriend after that ambush you planted.” His beady eyes focused on hers as he remembered her supposed plot.

  “I didn’t know about the restaurant. I knew they were headed out to the quarry, and I warned Vinny. I did my part to keep him safe.” Gloria was defensive. She had been accused of a great many things, but this was the worst.

  “Sure thing, sister. So how do you explain that kidnapping? If you were taken, how did you get out except by agreeing to set up the whole attack?”

  She couldn’t lie anymore. If she was going to die, she was going to at least do it with all of her cards out on the table. “I was not taken. The Devils didn’t kidnap me. Vinny and I faked it so you guys would lay off of me with your guards.”

  A small smile crept on Benni’s battered face, “You’re lyin’ to a dyin’ man. There’s somethin’ sinful in that.”

  “We’re both about to die here, so why would I lie?” Gloria could still hear the sound of men shouting and hollering at one another from the main hallway. Occasional bangs interrupted the two of them.

  “So, if you weren’t with the Devils, is what you told Vinny true? Do you have information for me?”

  “I’m a professional blackmailer, Benni. I know a great deal of things. Most importantly, I know where Junior is. And if you can get me out of here, I’ll tell you where he is—and all the other things I know about the Devils including how I know that they are on their way here now!”

  ….

  Vinny slammed into the metal table and then into the chair. The force of his body being slung from one side of the room to the next had him rolling and skidding across the floor. Each time he hit another person, they pushed him harder and faster into another large object.

  Slam! A table. Bam! A wall. Crash! A shelving unit.

  His body was a cannonball creating damage as it traveled and landed.

  The men were not easing up. These were his brothers, the men he swore he would ride with to the end. Now they were circling him like wild dogs to their prey. Vinny held his hands up in defense, “What in the hell is goin’ on? Quimby?”

  Quimby had stood in the corner, watching as the men spun him senselessly around the center of the main hall. When Vinny called out to him, he walked over and knelt down to meet his face. “This is for the ambush at the quarry.”

  “What? I had nothing to do with that. You see these?” Vinny lifted his shirt to reveal the bandages around his torso and back, “The Devils did this to me. Knives and bats.”

  Quimby did not answer. Instead, he stood to face where Vinny sat and kicked him square in the chest and then another to the face. Vinny’s head whipped wildly to the side and back down to the floor. He could taste a small pool of blood form in the corner of his mouth.

  He used his arms to push off of the ground to standing. Each effort caused more and more pain. Through his bloody mouth he said once again, “You really think I wanted this? Your fight is with the Devils, not me, not Benni, and not with Gloria.”

  “We know you let Junior go and that your whore was there the whole time. Benni let that slip hours ago when we were breaking each of his fingers. None of you deserve to be Horsemen. It’s time this club was taken over by a real man.” He spun around the room, facing his men who listened with wanting eyes, “Right, men? That bastard Benni led us into battle and got us killed. It’s a disgrace!”

  A great shout went up throughout the room. The men lifted their fists in agreement as they applauded.

  Vinny’s booming low voice made its way over their noise, “You kill me, and you kill Benni, and then what? What about the rest of the club that stands by us?” Vinny was right to bring up the rest of the club. Only about a quarter of the men were in the room with Quimby now.

  “They’ll fall in line or meet the same fate. An enemy to the new leadership is no one worth keeping around for long.” The boys laughed. They were bloodthirsty and vengeful – a perfect combination for rebellion.

  Quimby held up his hand in a fist. The men stopped laughing almost immediately. “But maybe we could make a deal. You stay, work for me, make your keep, and we won’t kill you.”

  “I would never work for pigs like you.” Vinny held to his values. No man, certainly not one like Quimby, would make him bow down without earning his trust first. “Instead, let me make you a deal. You let me, Gloria, and Benni walk free and I won’t kill you myself. Understood?”

  Quimby’s humor drained as he pointed towards two men and directed, “He’s done. Tie him up.”

  As the men walked towards him, their arms outstretched ready to force him down to the metal chair, Vinny stood slowly as well and then suddenly attacked. He ran through the men with his entire body weight. They fell back down with one’s head catching the hard tile with a crack. The other crumbled to the floor with Vinny still attached. Vinny punched at him several times over and over again until blood ran from his lips and ears.

  The other men had begun to circle. One threw his arms around Vinny’s neck as he used his weight to crush him back down to the ground. Vinny let out a roar as he kicked his legs out from under him, spinning the man to the ground and allowing Vinny to straddle him instead.

  Vinny and the man both reached at the same time for the man’s blade that stuck awkwardly out of its holder near his pocket. Vinny managed to make it just in time to stick the knife into the man’s arm, pinning him down to the ground in agony. His cries rang out.

  Vinny had no mercy. He yanked the knife out of the man’s hand and stood again. Dark brown and red blood covere
d his shirt and jeans. He stood before Quimby, the man at least five inches shorter than him. He struck without warning, landing a hard hit to the face. Quimby fell backwards but caught himself on the wall. He was up within a quick second, not enough time for Vinny to recover from the sharp sting he felt in his stitches.

  Quimby made the most of it, overwhelming the man as he kneed him in the stomach and gut and finally pushing him over to the ground. With a snap of his fingers, the other remaining men pounced on Vinny. He found himself fighting his way out of a pit of men both larger and smaller than himself. His knife was swinging wildly, catching bodies as he turned.

  In the distance from his fight, Vinny could make out the sound of a roar of bikes. His reinforcement, he hoped. If Benni and Gloria had managed to free themselves and called backup, he may have a fighting chance.

  The roar must have come as a warning for the others, as well. As quickly as they had fallen upon Vinny, the same men backed off. One by one, including Quimby, they scattered to the corners of the room or out the door.

  Suddenly, there was a pop. And another. And another. The room sounded as if fireworks were going off beside them. Vinny ducked and slid under a table for protection from the bullets that flew past him.

  Someone was shouting his name behind him. He turned to see Gloria hidden in a doorway in the center of the hallway. She was pointing towards the direction where the bullets were coming, but he could not make out her message.

  He crawled along the floor on his stomach to her, finally reaching the wall nearest her as the madness and chaos came to a sudden stop. Vinny cautiously stood in the shot out window, just barely getting a glance of the men riding in Devils’ colors. They were circling the parking lot now, rounding up the remaining Horsemen that had attempted to flee outside.

  A thought crossed Vinny’s tired mind: their war tribe had managed to strike just as Gloria had predicted. She had not lied. She had tried to warn them all, just as she had tried to warn them earlier.

  Vinny turned back to where Gloria had stood, but she was no longer there. His eyes darted across the room until he saw her bulging eyes and pained look. “Vinny” she lipped wordlessly to him. Standing behind her was Quimby, the knife Vinny had won was pointed at her neck.

  “Put it down, Quimby!” Benni had seen him first and was pointing a sleek black handgun at the panting, terrified man. He had gotten the supply of weapons from the lock box stowed away in his office. “Do it and you walk away alive.”

  “Couldn’t even fight like a real man, eh Benni? Had to send Vinny here to do it for you the first time and now you won’t even face me hand-to-hand? You’re just like them.” Quimby used his elbow and head to gesture to the Devils riding out of the parking lot and back onto the road. Their attack had been all they could have dreamed about and more.

  “Do it, Quimby! Drop the knife!” Vinny had joined Benni and was now shouting loudly at his old partner. He watched helplessly as two large tears rolled down Gloria’s eyes. Her face was blank, tired, and resolved. She was prepared for what was about to come next.

  “Vinny…”

  “Don’t you even start that, Gloria. Don’t you dare say it.” He wanted her to fight, to be prepared to go into battle.

  “I love you.” She had to get it out. She had to say it, even if it was just one last time. He needed to know why she had come back and why she had put herself on the line. He was her reason. He was her reason for living.

  Gloria suddenly slammed her foot onto Quimby’s. The heel of her black pumps cut through his toe. As he stammered back, she landed a quick hit to his balls while ducking from the knife he attempted to slice with.

  Vinny was there before she could move. He slid into a tackle as he knocked the wind out of the plump man. He turned wild and savage as he beat the man senseless, showing no mercy, as he had not towards Gloria. Quimby’s body went limp under him as he continued to hit away.

  Gloria crawled toward him and placed her hand on the back of his neck. The softness of his skin calmed and centered him. His fists slowed, his body began to heave in and out with the weight of his tired breath. Vinny wiped his hands upon his shirt and rose, lifting Gloria upwards with him.

  He took Gloria in his arms, rustling the hair between his fingers. The two said no words between them, nor did they acknowledge the Horsemen’s leader, as they walked out the door to where Gloria’s car was parked.

  Their fight was over. Their war was won.

  CHAPTER NINE

  A heavy knock pounded on room 1149 of the Hotel Davenport. Gloria rolled over slowly, shaking out the night from her hair as she tried to remember just where she was. The pounding only grew louder. She sat up and put her feet down on the soft, red carpet, then grabbed the oversized shirt draped over the desk chair and a pair of panties from the day before. “I’m coming,” she lazily cried to the source of the noise. “Hold on!”

  Through the peephole, she saw an unfamiliar man dressed in all back looking down at the shadows and light of the crack. He pressed himself up against the red wood door and said, “Gloria. It’s Riley. Benni needs to see you and Vinny now.”

  Gloria’s heart raced. Since the big blowout at the Horsemen’s headquarters, Gloria had spent all of her time and money running from the men once more. And just like the Devils following her to Florida and St. Louis, the men the club sent to scout her found her here in Indianapolis.

  Gloria sighed heavily as she resolved herself on what had to be done. She unhooked the lock, leaving the chain on to create a barrier and pulled it open just enough so that he could see that she was in there.

  “What does Benni want from me? I helped him escape the hostile takeover. I don’t owe him anymore.” Gloria could only imagine the punishment she was in for. When she had agreed to untie Benni, it was under the condition that she would have immunity for the rest of her life. She would be free to roam and wander as she pleased, as well as to do her business without repercussions. It was a deal worth making, even if it meant freeing the man who had vowed to kill her.

  “The boss wants to see you. He says he has an offer to make you.” The man looked over her head and towards the bed. “He wants to see both of you. Now. Meet me in the lobby in ten minutes.”

  Gloria swallowed hard as she shut the door and turned back towards the bedroom. Vinny was sleeping heavily in the bed, his head snuggled deep in the feather down pillows and his arms grasping toward the covers he had thrown off. She laid back down with him, taking her place under his sweaty, hot body once more.

  Her motion stirred him as he rolled over, his eyes flickering to recognition. “Hey there.” He looked deep into the pools of her eyes and found only worry, “What’s going on?”

  “It was a Horseman. They found us.” Gloria was matter of fact about it.

  “What?” Vinny slithered up towards the top of the bed to sit. It was the first time he had even thought about the club since he walked away almost two weeks earlier. He missed the comradely, the protection, and the rides. But he found solace on the road with his lady riding behind him. “What do they want? Did they say something to you?” Vinny had stood as he traced the room looking for his backpack. He tossed on his white t-shirt and slid on a pair of jeans.

  “The man said Benni wants to speak to us and that we have to meet him in the lobby in ten minutes. Do you think we should try to run?”

  Vinny was already up and staring out the window. He spotted the caravan of bikes in the parking lot. Riders were still on most of their seats. They patrolled the area, including the emergency exits. They were trapped once more.

  “No. We can’t. There’s no way out.” He pounded a fist to the side of his head, “I knew we should have checked in to a hotel outside the city. Dammit!”

  Another knock startled both of them, causing Gloria to jump where she lay. A familiar voice called to their room, “Vinny, open the door…now.”

  Benni was growing impatient and suspicious. He knew the couple would not come easily, nor would they co
operate if he gave them the choice to meet with him.

  Vinny took Gloria’s hand in his as he pulled her to standing. He embraced her tightly and kissed her gently on her soft, downy lips. “I love you,” he whispered without a second thought and then headed to the door. When he looked through the peephole, he only saw Benni. No other men, no weapons. It was just the leader looking more tired and run down than ever.

  Benni walked in slowly, surveying the interior with a deft eye. Vinny closed the door behind him, locking each lock quickly in hopes that it would keep whatever Benni came with on the outside.

  “The fuck do you want, Benni?”

  “Vinny! Relax. I’m here to, shall we say, re-recruit you.”

  “‘Re-recruit’ me?” Vinny almost laughed. “The fuck? You seriously misjudged the situation. After all that shit that went down, ain’t no chance I’ll ever wanna ride with your club anymore.”